


Believe Me, Get Back! (I’m Sorry)

by One-Hit Wonders (HMSquared)



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Bawling Morgan, Contamination, Crying, Declarations Of Love, During Canon, Episode Related, Episode Spoilers, Episode: s04e24 Amplification, Friendship/Love, Grief/Mourning, Hazmat Suits, M/M, Past Drug Addiction, Quarantine, Screaming, Sick Reid, anthrax - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-10
Updated: 2019-06-10
Packaged: 2020-04-23 18:52:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,301
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19156897
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HMSquared/pseuds/One-Hit%20Wonders
Summary: Morgan and Reid investigate Dr. Nichols’ place, but things get really dicey when Reid sees something Morgan doesn’t. 4.24





	Believe Me, Get Back! (I’m Sorry)

**Author's Note:**

> I will probably ship Morgan and Reid until the end of time, they are just adorable.
> 
> Enjoy!

"Morgan!" Reid's voice hit him from behind. Looking over his shoulder, Morgan saw him pointing to a door and mouthing "lab." Nodding, he turned back to the phone and said,

"Gotta go, Hotch."

"Everything alright?"

"Reid found something." Hanging up, Morgan walked over to the door and asked, "What do you got?"

"I see cages of dead animals, a computer, and some bottles of chemicals," Reid replied in a scarily calm tone. Raising an eyebrow, Morgan asked,

"Any signs of anthrax?"

"Nope."

"You first." Smirking, Reid tried the door; to their surprise, it was unlocked. The younger detective went first, carefully stepping inside and surveying the scene. A smell instantly hit his nose: blood.

"Morgan..." Reid trailed off, something else caught his eye, something Morgan hadn't seen. The former bomb tech was still getting used to the scene, and so he didn't realize his friend had stopped until he spun around and pushed him.

"Reid!" Morgan stumbled, knees buckling. He slid across the floor and nearly hit the door; Reid opened it and literally kicked him out, forcefully locking it behind him. "What's going on?!"

"Anthrax!" Reid shouted. His tone was chipper but his expression was not, stern and frightened. Getting to his feet, Morgan yelled,

"Reid, let me in!"

"Believe me, get back!" Morgan stepped forward to challenge him and froze. There was a smashed test tube and white power on the floor; based on Reid's hair, a fan was going. Eyes widening, he shouted,

"Reid, you need to get out of there!" Reid shook his head.

"I'm already infected, Morgan, I don't want you to get hurt."  _I don't want you to get hurt._ Those words chilled Morgan to the core and caused tears to well up in his eyes. Looking over his shoulder, Reid turned back to the glass and said, "Dr. Nichols is dead, two or three days it seems." Morgan silently nodded, not sure what to say.

"You alone?"

"Yeah..." Hugging his arms across his chest, Reid blinked back the tears forming and said quietly, "Morgan, I'm sorry. I love you." Nodding in agreement, Morgan got out his phone and went to call Hotch.

 

"What do you mean, you're not coming out?!" Hotch and the hazmat team had arrived to secure the scene. Morgan had called Reid only to hear he was staying inside the lab, prompting his response.

"The best thing I can do is look around and figure out who did this so more people don't die." Hotch looked at Morgan and muttered,

"He's right, the fewer people exposed, the better." Morgan nodded as he turned to the window. "How are you doing in there, Reid?"

"Fine." Reid suddenly coughed, causing Morgan to wince. "One interesting thing I've discovered is that there's a second workspace here, almost like-"

"A protege." Shooting Morgan a look, Hotch asked, "Is there anything there that might identify them?"

"A thesis on anthrax." There was more coughing followed by the sound of rustling paper. Flipping through it, Reid said, "Whoever it is, they seem more concerned about public safety and hospitals. Hotch, maybe we were wrong. Maybe they're not a scientist."

"What should I tell Garcia?" Giving the thesis a quick once-over, Reid replied,

"There's red ink on it, almost like a teacher grading a paper. Tell Garcia to look for a student in public policy who might be connected to the bookstore." Nodding, Hotch headed off to make the call. Once he was gone, Reid said, "Morgan, I need you to get something from my bag."

"Okay, what is it?" His answer was cryptic.

"You'll know when you see it." Shaking his head, Morgan hung up and headed to the van, unsure what he would find.

Reid's leather bag was hanging against the car seat, unaware of the outside world. Opening it up, Morgan rummaged through (careful not to intentionally snoop) until his hand closed around something plastic. The object in question was a Ziploc bag with a few pills inside; after a minute or two he realized they were the Cipro pills the team had been given. Why had Reid not taken them?

Slipping the bag into his pocket, Morgan made his way back to the scene. Dr. Linda Kimura had arrived, and after introducing himself, he asked,

"Can I have a hazmat suit?" Nodding, Dr. Linda called for one of the hazmat workers to come over and suit him up.

 

Reid was shaking. The coughing had gotten slightly worse (though he would never admit that), and he was having a hard time breathing. The main thing was a lack of energy; aside from a preliminary sweep, he had remained in place, shivering from the fan.

Morgan's shadow hit the glass. Raising a gloved finger, he tapped, motioning for the scientist to come over. Not even attempting to smile, Reid stumbled toward him.

"Hey, Morgan," he chuckled. Reaching into his pocket, Morgan pulled out the bag.

"Is this what you wanted me to find?" He didn't sound angry, just concerned. Reid nodded, head bobbing up and down. "Why didn't you take them?"

"My a-addiction." Reid coughed again, looking away from Morgan for a split second. Swallowing and sniffling, he regained his composure and said as calmly as he could, "I was afraid my previous drug history would cause a bad reaction." Morgan nodded sympathetically.

"You're worried about relapsing, aren't you?" Reid smiled sheepishly.

"That too." A second nod from Morgan.

"I respect your carefulness, Reid, but I really don't think these would have hurt you."

"I know." Reid stepped closer to the glass and smiled at Morgan, eyes slightly out of focus. "I screwed up, Morgan." He laughed sickly, coughing slightly. "I screwed up big time."

"It's okay, Reid." Deep down, Morgan knew it wasn't, but it didn't matter. Stepping even closer until his nose was nearly pressed against the glass, Reid said,

"Before I die, Morgan, I need to tell you something."

"Oh? And what's that?"

"I love you." Reid pressed his right hand against the glass and smiled a real smile, eyes not leaving Morgan's face. Pressing his own hand against the glass so they matched, Morgan replied,

"I love you too, Reid." Reid nodded. He opened his mouth to say something else, but all that came out was a cough. Shaking, his knees began to buckle and he started toward the floor. "Reid!" Morgan kneeled, fighting to keep his hand lined up with the glass and the fingers of his best friend.

 

Reid coughed violently until he hit the floor. Using what little energy he had to sit up, he placed his hand back against the glass and looked up at Morgan. Smiling, his eyes fluttered shut and his head tipped off to the left.

For a few seconds, it didn't register. For a few seconds, Morgan foolishly believed Reid was still alive. When it finally hit, when he finally realized he wasn't breathing, he started screaming.

Dr. Linda rushed over; eyes widening at the sight of Reid, she pulled Morgan to his feet and dragged him out of the tent. The bag of pills tumbled from his grip and fell into the grass, forgotten. Out in the sun, Morgan peeled off his white hood and continued to scream as a second arm look him from Dr. Linda.

Hotch pulled him to the car. Morgan didn't stop screaming until his vocal cords gave, until they were sitting in the van and the door shut. Staring at Reid's bag, he took several shaky breaths, face wet with tears.

"Morgan..." Hotch looked like he was going to throw up. Shaking, Morgan hugged him, burying his head in his friend's shoulder and sobbing. Close to tears himself, Hotch looked over his shoulder and watched as Reid was extracted from the lab and loaded into a body bag.

**Author's Note:**

> In case this helps, Reid's death was inspired by the ending of Star Trek II.
> 
> Please comment!


End file.
